Kerry-Lynne Findlay

[Justice, December 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are concerned about crime and that is why they gave our government a strong mandate to keep our streets and communities safe. The cost of crime on society far exceeds the cost of fighting crime. This report referred to is ridiculous. As we have already disclosed, the federal cost of our current crime legislation will be less than 1% of what the opposition claims.

Part of keeping our communities safe is keeping dangerous criminals behind bars, not releasing them on to our streets before they serve their sentences.

[Justice, December 8th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, it is truly a happy and good-news day for justice. I am happy to report that today Bill C-22, the government's legislation to make the reporting of child pornography by Internet service providers mandatory, has come into force.

Police forces across Canada make every effort to combat the creation and distribution of child pornography. They cannot eliminate online sexual exploitation by working alone. Our government is providing police with the tools they need. Our government makes it clear that we all have a role to play in protecting our children from this unspeakable--

[Justice, December 8th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we have something called a division of powers in this country. The federal government brings forward legislation on crime and crime initiatives and the provincial governments administer it. They do a very good job of administering it. We work with them on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis to make sure that we are doing the right things by Canadians.

We have increased transfers to the provinces by 30% since we took government. We transferred $54 billion last year, up $2.4 billion from the year before. We are doing what we need to do.

[Justice, December 8th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear in the House about working with our provincial and territorial partners with respect to the implementation of our crime legislation. We have many supporters. Attorneys general from across the country are saying they asked us for this legislation. They thank us for bringing it in. They are looking forward to working with us.

We are committed to standing up for victims in Canada, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

[Poverty, December 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, at this special time of year, as 2011 winds down to give way to 2012 and new beginnings, I ask all Canadians to pause and reflect on those who do not mark the year's end with abundance and to consider those who need the comfort of friends and the kindness of strangers, especially the children.

In my B.C. riding of Delta—Richmond East, echoed throughout Canada I know, I applaud the effort and the caring consideration shown by committed members of our many community service clubs and organizations, such as Delta Assist, the Richmond Food Bank and our three Legions in Ladner, Tsawwassen and Richmond that create and distribute food hampers for needy families.

I also want to recognize school initiatives and the opportunities they provide for children to share with other children.

Christmas is such a special time of year. I wish my parliamentary colleagues and all Canadians a joyous holiday season and a very merry Christmas.

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest when the hon. member talked about there being a lack of consultation with the provinces and then quoted from a letter from the Attorney General for Quebec.

What would the hon. member's response be to the Premier of British Columbia, who is four-square in favour of this legislation as it stands now? What would be his response to the Attorney General of Manitoba, who says the same? What would be his response to the Attorney General for New Brunswick, who is very concerned about crime in that province, particularly the sexual offences against children? What would be his response to the Attorney General of Saskatchewan, who says, “We were at the table with the federal government. We asked for these changes. We welcome them.”?

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing rushed about this whatsoever. This is the fourth time that the drug trafficking proposals have been before Parliament. The component parts of this comprehensive legislation have been studied, debated and discussed. We have gone through clause by clause in committee. As I said earlier, 67 committee days were devoted to this, with over 261 speeches and 363 witness appearances, 50 of whom we just heard from in the last few weeks. There is nothing rushed about it.

However, what we are in a rush to do is stand up for law-abiding Canadians and keep our commitments to victims of crime who feel they are voiceless in the present system and want those who perpetrate crimes to suffer the penalties that are commensurate with the severity of the crimes.

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member. We need to be serious in our approach to organized crime. One of the very important parts of this legislation is that where someone is convicted of drug trafficking and it is proven that he or she is part of organized crime, then minimum mandatory penalties do come into force. There are aggravating factors set out in this legislation where someone is part of organized criminality, or where there are threats of violence or actual violence, or where our children are targeted in their schools and elsewhere. That is where the mandatory minimum penalties come into force.

Is it everything? No, it is not. However, not everything can be in one particular piece of legislation. This is part of an overall program of this government for greater truth in sentencing, to restore confidence in the justice system and to hold those criminals to account. We take the threat of organized crime very seriously and we will continue to move in that direction.

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, of course it is important to keep our commitments. This is something that not only did this government campaign on in the last election but in several previous elections. We have consistently said that we will stand up for law-abiding Canadians and that we will protect victims. We pledged to do that within the first 100 sitting days and we intend to honour our commitments to those people.

Members heard in my statements comments from spokespeople for the victims rights groups. They have been waiting for this. They have been struggling for it. They have been advocating for it.

It is the right balance. We are the only party that is seeking balance.

[Safe Streets and Communities Act, December 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I reject the premise of that question from the hon. member. As I stated earlier, very pieces of legislation that have been before this House have been studied as much as this bill and its components. Yes, it is comprehensive legislation that brings together nine bills, but those have been studied, they have had witness testimony, speeches and committee hearings, as I have already pointed out.

As to dialoguing with our provincial and territorial counterparts, this is an ongoing matter. This is something we do continuously. It is disingenuous of the hon. member to suggest that we are not listening.

The Premier of British Columbia has praised the legislation. The Attorneys General for Saskatchewan and Manitoba have come out in praise of it. I quoted some of what the Attorney General for New Brunswick had to say. Not only that, the Attorney General for Saskatchewan publicly stated, “These are reforms we've been asking for. We've been asking the federal government to take action, and we're glad they have”.